Blessed of the Blood Moon
by ADDicting
Summary: Dumbledore is late to his interview with Trelawney and misses the true prophecy. Desperate for the Divination job, Trelawney makes one up to prove she has the Gift. Now both sides are fighting with false information. How will this effect the war and those the true prophecy is about? Slightly AU.


August 2nd, 1979

' _When the Red Blood Moon's eclipsed blood red,_

 _Two couples will conceive after righteous bloodshed._

 _Their children will have powers dormant from birth,_

 _Entrusted in them to save Magic from dearth._

 _The Shield will awaken in a flash of green light,_

 _To protect all from harm and defend from the blight._

 _The Sword will awaken when situation's dire,_

 _To avenge the Shield who appears to retire._

 _A pair are the Sword and the Shield to be sure._

 _Bound by Fate and their feelings so pure._

 _Guided are they by the moon's calming glow,_

 _to darkness and light, balance they'll bestow.'_

Sybill Trelawney jolted back to awareness with a gasp and cough. She glanced around trying to get her bearings. She was sitting in a dusty, unused room at the Hog's Head waiting for her chance to interview for the open Divination position at Hogwarts. Had she fallen asleep? A quick glance at the clock showed barely a minute had passed since she last checked the time. Dumbledore was late. This wasn't helping her nerves. She really needed this job. Fewer and fewer people were coming to her for readings as word was being spread that her predictions rarely, if ever, came to pass. Trelawney sighed, which quickly turned to coughs again when she felt how dry her throat was. She knew she had the Sight! She could just feel it! She just needed to prove herself to Dumbledore. To catch the wise wizard's attention. Unfortunately with him so focused on the threat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named posed, little else seemed to catch his interest. If only she could predict the Dark Lord's demise. That would surely guarantee she received the Divination position.

Trelawney's eyes flew open as this thought fully sunk in. She could predict the Dark Lord's demise! Doing so in front of the headmaster of Hogwarts couldn't be ignored, and would be irrefutable proof she wasn't a fraud! Oh this was perfect! Her conscience quietly spoke up that prophecies could be dangerous if misinterpreted, but the seer quickly assured herself that she'd make the thing so impossible and specific it could never be fulfilled. Then there would be no danger to anyone. So how to start. The wording was very important. It needed to be clearly about the Dark Lord and an impossible hero coming to defeat him all in the mysterious prose prophecies contained. ' _The Dark Lord's vanquisher is coming!'_ No, to direct. ' _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.'_ Yes, much better. Now to clarify who the destined hero is. Who could possibly beat that monster who killed indiscriminately. No one seemed to be able to resist him and survive. She could work with that. The vanquisher could come from those who were able to oppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and live to tell the tale. Oh! And throw in the magic number three for good measure. Yes, something like, ' _Born to those who have thrice defied him.'_ Hmm, needs to be even more specific. The prophecy should specify when the destined victor will come. As it's August now, why not July. A year seemed a good time frame for the start of the prophecy. Plus July just happens to be the seventh month! Perfect! Another magic number! Trelawney laughed to herself. She was a natural at this! She quickly added ' _Born as the seventh month dies'_ to her prophecy.

Now to tell the tale of how people should recognize who the hero is and the epic, and preferably tragic, struggle he would undertake. An early clash, leaving the hero scarred, only to come back later as strong as or stronger than the Dark Lord for their final confrontation. That seemed like a good enough story. ' _And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.'_ Hmm, it was starting to come together, but something was missing. It needed more death. Yes, if there was one thing Sybill Trelawney liked it was a good prediction of death. Things were just so much more exciting when death was on the line. ' _And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.'_ This was really shaping up to be a great prophecy! Now to wrap it up by repeating some of the more important points. ' _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.'_

Trelawney leaned back in her chair smiling. She was feeling much more confident about this interview now. Another coughing fit reminded her of her dry throat, and she wished she had thought to ask for a water or some butterbeer. She preferred to avoid strong alcoholic drinks to prevent them from clouding her inner eye. Not that she saw much as it was, but that was hardly the point.

Soon enough a knock sounded at the door to the room and Dumbledore strode in a second later. He had a benign smile on his face, but his gait and eyes showed he wished to be anywhere be here. Trelawney was instantly glad she had thought to make the prophecy as insurance.

"My dear, I must apologize for my tardiness. I was caught up in important matters and let time get away from me. So good to meet you. I have heard wonderful things about your family." Dumbledore welcomed her warmly.

"Thank you, Headmaster. I'm sure my family's talents will benefit me in the Divination position." Trelawney tried to state confidently, but her voice slightly rasped.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled slightly as he said, "Forgive me, but I had heard that the Gift had passed you by."

Trelawney scoffed, puffing up in indignation, "I assure you, Dumbledore, I have more Sight in me than the past several generations of my family combined! Why, I could give you a prediction right now if I so wished!"

The headmaster, in lieu of rolling his eyes, merely smiled and politely said,"I would be delighted to witness a practical demonstration of your Gift at work."

Sybill Trelawney was suddenly nervous. It was show time, and she only had one shot. This had to work. She straightened herself in her chair, and said "Allow me to enter the necessary state of mind. To open my inner eye to the Beyond and Fate's plans for things to come." Dumbledore simply nodded, so she closed her eyes.

A deep breath in, followed by a slow exhale. Repeat the pattern three times. Then open your eyes, focused on the Beyond and in a mystical voice state the prophecy clearly. Trelawney tried to follow these steps, but with the state her throat was in, her mystical voice became a gravelly, grating sound. She stopped herself from wincing, and forced herself to continue speaking, knowing if she stopped Dumbledore would see the ruse for what it was. Once she finished reciting the false prophecy, she gasped in a breath and coughed to try and relieve her now even drier throat. She glanced searchingly around the room, hoping against hope she could find something to drink, or else she may not be able to talk for the rest of this interview.

Dumbledore stared at the witch before him in sheer disbelief. That had all the signs of a true prophecy being told by a seer. The vacant look, the deep rasping voice, and the clear dissociation with her surroundings upon completion. If this was indeed real, it was exactly what he needed! He needed to head to the Department of Mysteries to confirm this was indeed a true prophecy. If so, Sybill Trelawney needed to be protected at all costs. He'd give her the job just in case. He couldn't take that risk. This was simply too important a matter. Standing quickly, he rushed to say, "Well! That was quite impressive my dear. Clearly I was mistaken about your Sight. Of course you and your talents would be a great benefit to Hogwarts as its newest Divination professor. Now, professors are required to live in the castle to be available for students, so please move in as soon as is convenient for you." Now it was summer, and professors didn't need to stay over the summer, but Dumbledore needed her in the castle so he could keep a close eye on her. "Now I have important business I must attend to. I bid you a good day." He continued, moving towards the door.

He threw the door open, and was surprised as a young man tumbled into a heap at his feet. When the man lifted his head, Dumbledore was able to recognize him as the Snape boy. The one who was always antagonizing and antagonized by the Marauders. What was he doing here, so close to the door? Had he overheard? That could be disastrous! A quick peek into his unprepared mind, and Dumbledore saw that Severus Snape had only heard the first two lines of the prophecy before being distracted by Aberforth at the bar, but listened in again to hear Dumbledore offer her a job at Hogwarts. Finally detecting the intrusion, Snape sprang to his feet and dashed away, before aparating nearly as soon as he stepped through the bar's door. Dumbledore had an uneasy feeling about that, but was unable to do anything about it now. He had somewhere much more important to go to anyway. He too walked out of the bar and aparated to the Ministry of Magic.

Trelawney could do nothing be stare after the headmaster's sudden departure. Then it hit her. She had done it! She was now the Divination professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! She leapt to her feet with and exclamation of joy, which only reminded her of her poor throat. She, too, then left the room at the bar heading home for a nice, warm cup of tea and to begin packing her things.

Dumbledore strode purposefully into the Department of Mysteries. Once the door shut behind him, the walls spun around the room like they would for any unauthorised person. When the walls were stationary once more, he announced to the empty room, "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore here to inquire about the validity of a prophecy given to me." At once a door opened and a hooded Unspeakable beckoned Dumbledore to follow him. Together they walked passed rows upon rows of shelves full of prophecies in silence.

"Who gave the prophecy to you?" the Unspeakable asked when they reached the furthest filled shelf.

"A Sybill Patricia Trelawney. No more than an hour ago now." Dumbledore replied. A small nod of the head was all he got in response as the Unspeakable turned towards the shelf. With a spell from the hooded man a previously unmarked globe glowed briefly.

"It would seem that Sybill Trelawney has indeed given a true prophecy. Thank you for reporting this to the Department of Mysteries. So few prophecies are reported, and it makes it incredibly difficult to study them without knowing who can safely handle the orbs. If you'd tell us anyone mentioned in the prophecy, we will label it appropriately for our records."

"Ah," began Dumbledore unsure if he should reveal the information. This was the Department of Mysteries though, just the names wouldn't hurt, and having it labeled would make this particular orb much easier to locate in the case it needed to be protected from Voldemort. Decided, he finished saying, "The Dark Lord and an unnamed male were mentioned in the prophecy."

The Unspeakable flicked his wand and a plaque appeared under the orb with the necessary information. Turning back to Dumbledore when his work was complete he stated "Please come to us if you find out who the unnamed male mentioned is. We'd greatly appreciate it. Now if you have no further business here," he paused briefly, to which Dumbledore shook his head no. "Then please follow me back to the entrance chamber." At their destination the Unspeakable dismissed Dumbledore quickly by saying, "Thank you for visiting the Department of Mysteries. Have a good day." and turned to leave the way he came. He needed to report this to his master.


End file.
